2010–11 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round

This article details the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round.

There were two paths:

Champions Path, which included all domestic champions which did not automatically qualified for the group stage.

Non-Champions Path (also called the Best-placed Path), which included all non-domestic champions which did not automatically qualified for the group stage.

Each tie is played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that has the higher aggregate score over the two legs progresses to the next round. In the event that aggregate scores finish level, the away goals rule is applied, i.e., the team that scored more goals away from home over the two legs progresses. If away goals are also equal, then thirty minutes of extra time are played, divided into two fifteen-minutes halves. The away goals rule is again applied after extra time, i.e., if there are goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score is still level, the visiting team qualifies by virtue of more away goals scored. If no goals are scored during extra time, the tie is decided by penalty shootout.

Below are the 54 teams (39 in Champions Path, 15 in Non-Champions path) that were involved in the qualifying phase and play-off round, grouped by their starting rounds.[2] The 10 winners of the play-off round (5 in Champions Path, 5 in Non-Champions Path) qualified for the group stage to join the 22 automatic qualifiers. The losing teams from the third qualifying round and the play-off round entered the Europa League play-off round and the group stage respectively.[3]

In each round, teams were seeded based on their 2010 UEFA club coefficients.[4] Prior to the draw, UEFA may form "groups" in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee, but they are purely for convenience of the draw and do not resemble any real groupings in the sense of the competition, while ensuring that teams from the same association not drawn against each other.